East Hartford Cheers Building's New Look

EAST HARTFORD — With the help of a new downtown organization, the town Thursday will celebrate the completion of its facade improvements to the Comstock buildings on Main Street.

Main Street Plus is sponsoring a wine- and-cheese reception at 5:30 p.m. at First Federal Savings. The bank is next to the spruced-up buildings, which the town hopes to sell. The reception is open to the public.

``It will be just recognizing that the building looks nice and that we're proud,'' said Doris C. Suessman, an organizer of the reception.

The event will have a theatrical theme -- Theaters yesterday and today, she said. The reason is that the group of buildings once included the town's first theater.

The old theater was demolished to make way for rear parking, as was an old house. But the town plans to give area theater groups space through another project in town -- the renovation of the nearby Center School.

In addition, the Starlite Playhouse & Cabaret opened down the block last year -- all in keeping with Mayor Robert M. DeCrescenzo's plan to make the downtown area a place for the arts.

The two remaining Comstock buildings stand next to each other at the foot of Burnside Avenue. The facades were washed, new thermal windows were installed, garnet-painted woodwork was placed below the storefront windows and forest-green awnings were put in place. The $200,000 in improvements were paid for with state and federal grant money.

The improvements are designed to help sell the buildings, which the town acquired in a tax foreclosure. Although the changes were strictly exterior, they did not go unnoticed, DeCrescenzo said.

``It looks like we're going to fill up some storefront space,'' he said.

Grants Administrator Mary Martin said she has two potential tenants to rent the empty stores in the buildings. The three current shops are Leather Harvest, White Star Barber and City Check Cashing.

``Customers like the fact it looks nice,'' said Alan Treiber, a senior partner at Leather Harvest.

Paul Aliano, who owns the 39-year- old barber shop, said the improvements are good, but he is concerned about beggars and prostitutes he said frequent the area. ``The people in the streets,'' he said, ``they are no good.''